Built in 1530, the Altar of Earth is located in the northern part of Beijing, a little way off Andingmenwai Street. Extending over an area of 37 hectares, it was surrounded by a double square enclosure. The outer enclosure no longer stands but its west gate remains.

For more than four centuries, the Altar of Earth was the sacred place where the emperors of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties worshipped the God of Earth. The place, formally reopened in 1984, has been converted into a park mainly serving the aged.

A centre for the aged opened there in 1984. At the centre, the public can play chess, billiards, and table tennis, or listen to lectures on flower-growing, learn "taijiquan" (a kind of traditional Chinese shadow boxing) or "qigong" (a system of deep breathing exercises).

In 1420, the third Ming Emperor Yongle had the Temple of Heaven and Earth built in the southern part of Beijing. There he offered sacrifices to Heaven at the annual winter solstice and to Earth at the summer solstice. Having received a suggestion to worship Heaven and Earth separately, in 1530 Emperor Jiajing (1522-1566) ordered that the Circular Mound Altar be constructed for the worship of Heaven in Tiantan (now called the Temple of Heaven) and that Fangzetan (Square Stream Altar) be constructed for the worship of Earth in the Northern City. Fangzetan was renamed Ditan in 1534.

The largest structure in the Altar of Earth is the altar known as Fangzetan - so called because a moat surrounds it. A sculpted stone dragon head is fixed on the west side of the southwestern corner of the moat wall; water was brought from a well through the dragon head. Fangzetan was built on a north-south axis, and it is surrounded by two square enclosures, both painted red and surmounted with yellow glazed tiles. Both Inner and outer enclosures have triple white marble gates to the north and one gate to the east, south and west.

The altar is a two-tiered square terrace surfaced with flagstones; its facades are yellow glazed bricks. Each terrace is one metre high and has a flight of eight steps leading up to it. The upper terrace is 20 metres wide and the lower one 35 metres. The even numbers six and eight, symbols of the earth, and multiples of six and eight recur several times in the arrangement of the square flagstones. On the west and east sides of the lower terrace lie four groups of stone sculptures, 23 in all. They symbolize 15 mountains, including Mount Taishan and Mount Huashan; four rivers, including the Changjiang (Yangtze) River and Yellow River, and four seas (ancient Chinese believed that China was surrounded by four seas). There are more than 20 holes in the two terraces. They held flagstaffs and poles for banners and tents used during ceremonies.

The ceremonies for worshipping the Earth took place once a year, at the summer solstice.

On important occasions such as an emperor's coronation, birthday, marriage or funeral, a representative of the emperor would come to "report" to the God of Earth.

The Altar of Earth was no longer used after the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty in 1911; it became a public park in 1925. It was once badly plundered and, because of years of neglect, became a wilderness choked with head-high weeds.

The People's Government gave the Altar of Earth a new look in 1957, when it was once more turned into a park. The buildings were repaired and an orchard built as well as a large number of trees and flowers were planted.

An overall renovation of the park started in 1981. The People's Government allocated a large sum for the renovation. Most of the buildings already have taken on a new look. A "pailou" or archway and a Bell Tower, neither of which had existed before, have been built on the spots.

Built in the same year with the Altar of Earth were the Altar of the Sun in the eastern city, the Altar of the Moon in the western city and the Altar of the Creator of Agriculture in the southern city. The emperor worshipped the God of the Sun at the Altar of the Sun at the spring equinox and the God of the Moon at the autumn equinox. Both the Altar of the Sun and the Altar of the Moon, more or less like the Altar of Earth but smaller, are now public parks. The emperor used to make annual sacrifices to the Altar of the Creator of Agriculture and perform the rite of ploughing the first furrow there at the beginning of spring each year. It is now the site of a stadium that accommodates 30,000 people.